Jumper Problems
by dani2theela
Summary: Major Lorne needs help with a malfunctioning Puddle Jumper and goes to ask for help. #1 in the Non-Resident Indian-series ETA: Had some problems with the document, but it's all fixed now. No late night (or early morning?) posting for me anymore.


"I'm sorry, I'm looking for Doctor McKay, is he here?"  
>Naina looks up to see Major Lorne standing in the doorway of the lab, not sure if he should enter or just stay where he is.<br>Everyone in the room is looking at their laptops, not saying anything, because they all know one thing: Dr Rodney McKay is in a very bad mood right now. He is sitting in his lab and is not to be disturbed.  
>When no one reacts, he presses, "Anyone?"<br>Someone stands up from their chair, that someone being one of the female scientists. She has a small and slender figure, long brown hair, dark eyes and - much to his surprise - not wearing any uniform. She is, however, dressed in a sleeveless yellow and turquoise tunique. The fancy silver earrings she is wearing make the black earpiece look out of place.  
>"I'm Doctor Suhar. Doctor McKay is currently unavailable. What can I help you with?"<br>"I'll have flying lessons with some of the newbies and the Puddle Jumper we're using for that is acting up, so I want to ask him if he's had the chance to run a diagnostic."  
>She nods and walks him to a door, supposedly leading to where McKay is.<br>"I'll ask him", she says and lets the door slide open.  
>"<em><em>What now<em>_?", is the first thing they hear from a totally unnerved Rodney, who is sitting at his desk, furiously typing on several laptops.  
>Lorne is about to say something, when she subconsciously puts a hand on his arm to stop him, only to draw back a second later when she realizes her move.<br>"Major Lorne wants to know if you've had the chance to run a diagnostic on the training Jumper."  
>"Oh yes, of course, because I have so much time on my hands that I could care even the tiniest bit about that training Jumper."<br>Lorne raises an eyebrow shakes his head. He really has no idea how Colonel Sheppard can manage to work with this guy, let alone not shooting him the minute he opens his mouth.  
>"Rodney", Naina says, her voice changing from friendly and polite to a warning tone, "all he asked was if you had the chance. A simple 'yes' or 'no' would suffice."<br>Lorne is genuinely impressed when the Canadian first looks at them briefly, then lets his eyes go back to the screens and mumbles "No".  
>"I need the Jumper this afternoon", Major Lorne says, more to Naina than to Rodney.<br>"I don't have time for that, there's more pressing matters at hand."  
>"Well, you keep saying that until one of my men crashes a Jumper, possibly with you in it."<br>"I can do it", Naina says quickly, before her boss can get back at the Major.  
>"You? Today's your day off - what are you doing here anyway? And what are you even wearing? Those colors don't match in the slightest."<br>Naina rolls her eyes. "Doctor Perez had a question and radioed me because you are unavailable and Doctor Zelenka is off-world."  
>"I can't deal with the minions right now. I need to concentrate."<br>"Hence the need to bring me in on my day off."  
>Rodney sighs again. "Fine, go. But it's still your day off, you don't get to charge the overtime. And don't come running to me when you break a nail or something."<br>"Wouldn't dream of it", she replies and nods her head towards the door, signaling Lorne to move out.

Five minutes later they're walking to the Jumper Bay, when Lorne's curiousity gets the better of him. "Okay, I need to ask..."  
>She looks at him. "Okay?"<br>"How did you do that? I mean, the whole 'a simple yes or no would suffice' thing."  
>"I just tell him when I don't like the way he talks to people", she shrugs, "not a big deal."<br>"Anyone on this base would beg the differ."  
>She just smiles at him. Of course she knows that it's fairly uncommon for anyone - except Sheppard - to talk to Rodney like that, especially since she's one of the "minions". One day she just couldn't take his degrading behaviour anymore, put her foot down and told him to stop being such an ass. Since he couldn't exactly send her home in the first year of the Expedition, he had to learn to deal with it.<br>"I think he's scared of me", Naina says, which earns her a chuckle from the Major.  
>In that moment, Lorne realizes that Dr Suhar is completely different from most of the other scientists. They mostly like to keep to themselves, mingle amongst their "own kind", seldomly being seen with a military officer. There is, however, a group of scientists that seems confident enough to have friends outside their circle and doesn't entirely dedicate their life to science. And she seems to be one of them.<p>

When they reach the Jumper Bay, the first thing Naina does is grabbing a box. The Major wants to ask her what she's gonna do with it but decides on waiting instead. Reaching the Jumper in question and opening the hatch, he watches her putting down the box right under the control crystal output.  
>When she notices him watching her, she blushes slightly, "What? I'm a small person."<br>'Resourceful' is the first word that comes to his mind.  
>He moves over to the controls, touches the panel and the Jumper buzzes to life.<br>Normally it takes her a few seconds longer to activate all the circuits in the flying machine, but then again, she doesn't have the gene naturally.  
>"Your Ancient gene is strong", she says and starts fiddling with the cables and the tablet she brought with her.<br>"Are you trying to flirt with me, Doc?", he grins, but when she rolls her eyes at him, he says, "I'll take it as a compliment, then."  
>"Oh please do", she mumbles in the direction of the crystals. "So what exactly are the problems with the Jumper?"<br>"Well, for one, the HUD doesn't come up and I think the...uhhh...well the command for me to intervene is acting up. You know, tapping into the neural connection and all. It's not responding at times."  
>"Not good if you're actually having flying lessons."<br>"Exactly."  
>"Okay. I'll just run a quick diagnostic and then check the command code. Shouldn't be more than a few minutes."<br>Lorne settles down in the chair and watches her work. She alternates between typing on her tablet and adjusting the cables that connect the crystals with the hardware.  
>"So, doc, what got you in the Pegasus Galaxy in the first place?"<br>She stops and considers what to answer him. Of course, she doesn't want to lie, but leaving information out doesn't neccessarily mean lying. So she answers, "A number of things. For the most part, a fresh start."  
>"That's both, risky and brave, if you ask me."<br>"Well, 'risky' and 'brave' are sort of in our job description."  
>Lorne smiles. "Too true."<br>"How about you, Major Lorne? How did you get into the Program?"  
>"I joined the Air Force, got a degree along the way and at some point, someone offered me a job at the SGC. It seemed all very exciting and so I accepted. I was overlooking a mining operation at first and then got my own SG-team. After a couple of years, I got transferred to Pegasus."<br>"What did you major in College?" Realizing the word play, she chuckled briefly.  
>Lorne laughed. "Art History."<br>"Really?"  
>"Yeah."<br>"Didn't see that one coming."  
>"My mom is an art teacher and she taught my sister and me a lot about art when we were young. While my sister stayed with drawing, I stuck with the history of it all. And I paint."<br>"Sounds nice." She does something on the tablet, then, "try the screen..."  
>He pushes a button and looks in the direction the screen is supposed to pop-up. "Nope."<br>Naina sighs and rearranges the cables. "Tryyyy now."  
>Lorne pushes the button again and finally, the screen appears. "Well, hello."<br>"Now on to the commanding code", she says and sits down on the bench. This might take a little longer and she can already feel her neck complaining.  
>"You're doing an amazing job here, doc, thank you."<br>She looks at him and blushes. "Thank you. But really, it's no bother. It's my job and I love doing it."  
>"I guess one has to really love it in order to work for Dr McKay."<br>"He can be rude sometimes, but I'd rather have him than someone who doesn't know how to do the job."  
>He raises his eyebrows as he hears her praise. He thought of a lot of words, but <em><em>rude<em>_ was definitely among the kinder ones.  
>"He can be an ass, though, I'm not arguing with that", she adds when she sees his surprise. "Still, he has enormous knowledge and although it might not look like it from the outside, I've learned a lot from him - and Dr Zelenka."<br>"Doesn't look like you needed it."  
>"Are you trying to flirt with me, Major?", she repeats his words from earlier, but doesn't wait for an answer before she continues, "I was recruited a year after I got my doctorate, so my job experience in this field is slim to none. Dr Zelenka sort of took me under his wings and since the both of them work together closely, I learned a lot from Rodney as well. I was scared of him at the beginning, though."<br>"Can't blame ya there."  
>She smiles and brings her attention back to the tablet.<br>A couple of minutes of silence follow, before Naina gets up from the bench. "Alright, that should be it."  
>"Already?"<br>"Yes. Should be good as new."  
>"Wanna take her out for a spin?"<br>"I'll have a lunch date in 20, but maybe afterwards?"  
>His face lights up at her words. "Sure. I'll walk you to the Mess, I should get something to eat as well."<p>

They arrive at the Mess Hall 10 minutes later.  
>"That's me over there", Naina says and points in the direction of the balcony.<br>He glances over to two young women sitting at a desk, chatting away while looking in their direction.  
>"Alright. See you in an hour, then?"<br>Naina nods. "One hour. I'll go change before that."  
>"Oh please, a little color doesn't hurt anybody."<br>"Well, then. See you later."  
>"Yes. Oh an doc?" He puts his hand on her shoulder and immediately notices her cheeks flushing. "Thanks again. I owe you."<br>"No you don't. Like I said, it's my job."  
>"But it's still your day off."<br>She sighs and gives in.  
>She can still feel his hand on her shoulder as she walks up to her friends.<p> 


End file.
